Tile fence.



H. R; STRAIGHL E FENCE.

APPLICAT ILED sEPT.22, 1913.

1,151,974 Patented Aug. 31,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

hifmeansdy H R. STRAiGHT.

TILE FENCE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-22, 1913.

Patentd Aug. 31, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

pa s ATEFNT onrron.

HALVER R/STRAIGHT, F ADEL, IOWA.

TILE FENCE.

7 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HALVER R. STRAIGHT,

acitizen of the United States, residing at Adel, in the county of Dallas and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and use-. ful Tile Fence, of-which the following is a specification. I

The object of my invention is to provlde an. improved fence of simple, durable and inexpensive construction that may be made of vitrified clay on an ordinary tile making machine without the use of hand labor.

A further object is to provide a fence of this character in which the fence may be erected and permanently supported Without theuse of posts of any kind going into the ground.

A further object is to provide a fence of this kind that may be made up complete of two kinds of blocks, one kind forming a combined top and bottom fence block and the other a fence block for the body of the fence. s

A further object is to provide an improved fence especially adapted for the prevention of drifting snow, sand orthe like.

.My invention consists in certain details, in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 7

Figure 1 shows a perspective v1ew of a fence embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows an enlarged, detail, side view illustrating a number of my improved fence blocks connected together and having therein the deflecting blocks for preventing'the' drifting of snow, sand, etc. Fig. 3 shows a top or plan View of a fence block having a deflector block on top of it and-also provided with dotted lines showingthe position of a deflector block within the fence block to illustrate the manner in which the successive layers of deflecting blocks are Fig. 1

arranged relative to each other. shows a top or plan view of a fence embodying my invention, the dotted crossed Specification of -Letters Patent. 1 at t i 31 19 5 Application filed September 22, 1913. Serial N o.;791,226.' i

fence blocks proper. Eachblockcomprises a substantially rectangular figure consisting of two straight vertical sides 10 having at its top and bottom a rib 11, the inner sur face of the rib being beveled or inclined so that it is largest at the end, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The central portion of the bottom piece isindicated by the numeral 12. At the ends of thiscentralportion are the upwardly. inclined parts 13 and at their ends are the outwardly extended parts 1 1 which unite with the sides 10, thus forming a groove '15 between the rib 11 and the part 13.. The top member of the block is exactly like the lower memberf'just described ,'so that if the block were inverted the foregoing description would apply to it. On the inner surface of the part 121, in some instances, provide grooves 16 to receive mortar or cement for purposes hereinafter described. The length of the space between I the part 13 and the rib 11 in each of the I grooves 15 issomewhat greater than the thickness of the rib 11, thus leaving spaces for mortar on both sides of the rib 11 when it is in o'ne'of said grooves. In building a fence, these fence blocks are put together in the mannershown in Figs. 1 and 2 and when so put together thelower surface of one of the parts 12 will be inline horizontally with the'lower surface of one of the parts 14 of a block, below it, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.' Before the mortar isput in on ops posite sides of the ribs 11 there is consid. erable space left on opposite sides of said rib within the corresponding, groove 15 to allow a slight amount of play or adjustment of one blockjrelative to the other.

This isdesirable in erecting a fence of this kind on uneven earth surfaces as for instance when building a fence over a concave earth surface the blocks may be moved to their limit toward each other, and when building over a convex earth surface the blocks may be moved to their limit'away from each other. The spaces that are left between the ribs 11 and the inner spaces of the grooves,

15 are filled with cement or mortar 17, and these pieces ofcementor mortar are put in in plastic condition and when they have once dried and 'hardened they will form locking members that will" prevent; movement of any of the fence blocks in any direction even though the bond between the cement and mortar should become broken from the tile. Obviously,,flthese='blocks just described may lot be made by the use of an ordinary tile machine without any hand work and they are all exactly alike.

In order to form the combined top and bottom members of the fence, I provide the kind of blocks illustrated in Fig. 1, each of which comprises a body portion 18 having at each end an extension 19 and an up wardly extended rib 2 0 tapered in such a manner as to be widest at its upper end, as

clearly shown at the bottom in Fig. 1.

When these blocks are used for the top of the fence they are inverted, as shown in Fig. 1. In erecting the fence with these combined top and bottom blocks, a number of said blocks are first placed upon their surface and suitably spaced apart so that the parts 12 of the fence blocks may be placed between them and the ribs 11 of the fence blocks may be placed in the grooves 21 between the ribs 20and the body portions 18. When it is desired to provide a fence of this kind designed to prevent the drifting of snow, sand or the like, I provide a number of rectangular vitrified tile deflectors 22 of a length equal to the space between the inner edges of the parts 12 of a fence block and of uniform thickness. These deflector blocks are then placed in position inside of the fence blocks, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, those in one layer preferably all being inclined in the same direction on lines slightly divergent from a line drawn transversely through the fence, and those on the layer above being inclined in an opposite direction. The function of this part of the fence is as follows: When snow, sand, etc., is being blown by a heavy wind through the fence, the deflectors in one layer will slightly deflect the pathof the snow, sand, etc., in one direction and those on the layer above will deflect it in the opposite direction. This will cause counter-currents which will counteract each other and cause the snow,

sand, etc., to become deposited in the pile close to the fence after having passed through it. The grooves 16 before referred to are useful in acting as retainers for the mortar or cement that is used to hold these deflector blocks 22 in position. Throughout the length of a section of fence of this kind it is not necessary or desirable to use posts of any kind that extend into the ground. I however provide for making the fence rigid enough to withstand all ordinary pressure from the side by curving a portion of the fence first to the left and thento the right, as illustrated in Fig. 4, thus forming a base of much greater width than though the fence were erected on a straight line. Another advantage of this feature of the construction is that as the material of which the fence is v constructed contracts and expands on account of the variation in temperature, the

curved construction simply becomes more or less curved by such expansion and contractlon, thus avoiding the possibility of breaking the joints between the various blocks is a tile cover 25. At each post, I cut the fenceblock through the vertical transverse center and then run the central portions of the parts 12 into the slots 24:. After this is done,-the hollow post 23 is then preferably filled with cement or mortar to firmly secure these ends in position and to make the post strong and durable.

Some of the advantages of my invention are that the fence blocks proper may be made on an ordinary tile making machine without hand labor and are all alike, and the material is of substantially uniform thickness throughout so that it will become vitrifled uniformly throughout when being burned.

By reason of the peculiar construction of the blocks they may be combined with each other sosas to form the entire body portion of the fence, and when the cement or mortar is placed in the spaces provided for it the blocks of the fence are firmly held together against movement either transversely of the fence or vertically. Furthermore, the combined top and bottom members may be very readily and easily placed in position and when so placed'will also be firmly held to form a strong and substantial top and bottom for the fence.

My invention is peculiarly adapted for use in connection with vitrified clay as material but obviously other materials may be employed.

I claim as my invention:

1. An improved fence, comprising a series of hollow blocks, each being provided with coacting ribs and grooves arranged to extend transversely of the fence, said blocks being arranged in rows one above the other with their ends open at the sides of the fence, and with the ribs on the upper row entering the grooves of the row below.

2. An improved fence, comprising a number of hollow blocks all being of the same shape and being arranged in rows, the blocks in one row being spaced apart from each other, and said blocks being provided with coacting ribs and grooves arranged transversely of the fence.

3. An improved fence, comprising a numvarious blocks are not pulled apart as the her of hollow blocks all being of the same shape and being arranged in rows, the blocks in one row being spaced apart from each other and said blocks being provided with coacting ribs and grooves arranged transversely of the fence, the said ribs being tapered so that their outer edges are widest, and pieces of cement or the like placed in said grooves and surrounding said ribs to prevent upward movement in one of the upper fence blocks relative to the blocks below.

4. As an article of manufacture, an improved fence block formed hollow and having straight vertical sides and also having top and bottom members the exact counterparts of each other except that one is inverted relative to the other, the top member comprising a horizontal, central portion with downwardly extended portions at the end thereof and outwardly extended portions at the ends of the downwardly extended portions, and upwardly extended ribs at the ends of the horizontally extended members, said ribs being enlarged at their upper ends.

5. In an improved fence, the combination of a series of fence blocks formed hollow and each having a rib at each corner, a groove adjacent to the rib, a series of combined top and bottom fence members each having one flat side and also having on the other side ribs at the ends thereof, and grooves adjacent to the ribs, substantially as set forth.

6. An improved fence formed of a series of hollow blocks having openings extended transversely of the fence, and deflectors in the interior of said hollow blocks arranged at angles slightly divergent from lines at right angles to the fence.

7. An improved fence formed of a series of hollow blocks having openings extended transversely of the fence, and deflectors in the interior of said hollow blocks arranged at angles slightly divergent from lines at right angles to the fence, said deflectors being detachable from the fence blocks.

8. An improved fence, comprising a series of hollow blocks open at the sides of the fenceand arranged in layers one above the other, and a series of deflectors arranged in said blocks, some of said deflectors being arranged slightly divergent from a line at right angles to the fence in one direction and the others being slightly divergent from such a line in the other direction, for the purposes stated.

9. An improved fence, comprising a series of hollow fence blocks, with their open ends at the sides of the fence, said blocks being provided with coacting ribs and grooves extended transversely of the fence, the said grooves being of materially greater width than the width of the coacting ribs, whereby the fence may be constructed in a series of curves extending first to the right and then to the left to provide a relatively broad base for supporting the fence directly upon the ground surface.

Des Moines, Iowa, September 10, 1913.

HALVER R. STRAIGHT. llitnesses M. WALLACE, S. RoBINsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

